Grandma Alvilde Olson’s Fattiman Recipe

There are so many wonderful memories of our family’s Scandinavian Christmases on the farm in Valley City. My grandparents immigrated from Norway and bought the farm in the early 1900s. They carried their delicious baking traditions with them from Oslo and Larvik. My mother learned all the recipes and baking traditions as a 17-year-old hired girl at the farm – her future mother-in-law taught her well!

After moving to Washington in 1961, our family kept this wonderful tradition going. We began sharing our treats with our church family on the second Sunday in December. Our family still keeps the wonderful tradition to this day. What an enjoyable labor of love to pass on to our children and grandchildren!

Recipe

9 eggs, room temperature, slightly beaten

9 tablespoons sugar

11 tablespoons cream

3 tablespoons cooking brandy

1½ teaspoons vanilla

1½ teaspoons lemon extract

1½ teaspoons fresh-ground cardamom

5½ cups sifted flour

Chill. Do not roll. Spread dough with hands to quarter-inch thickness. Cut into diamond shape and make a half slash in each center. Pull one end through slash, deep fry until golden brown, turning once.